ielts simulation test

In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive.. In boxes 1–8 on your answer sh

R E A D I N G PA S S AG E 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–14 which are based on Reading Passage 1

below.

Adults and children are frequently confronted with

statements about the alarming rate of loss of tropical

rainforests For example, one graphic illustration to

which children might readily relate is the estimate that

rainforests are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to one

thousand football fields every forty minutes – about the

duration of a normal classroom period In the face of the

frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that

children will have formed ideas about rainforests – what

and where they are, why they are important, what

endan-gers them – independent of any formal tuition It is also

possible that some of these ideas will be mistaken

Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, riculum science These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorpo-rated into a multifaceted, but organised, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media Sometimes this information may be erroneous It seems schools may not be providing an opportunity for children to re-express their ideas and so have them tested and refined by teachers and their peers

cur-Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of rainforests, little formal information is available about children’s ideas in this area The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help teachers design their edu-cational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in their schools

The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions The most frequent responses to the first question were descrip-tions which are self-evident from the term ‘rainforest’ Some children described them

as damp, wet or hot The second question concerned the geographical location of forests The commonest responses were continents or countries: Africa (given by 43%

rain-of children), South America (30%), Brazil (25%) Some children also gave more general locations, such as being near the Equator

Responses to question three concerned the importance of rainforests The nant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habi-tats Fewer students responded that rainforests provide plant habitats, and even fewer mentioned the indigenous populations of rainforests More girls (70%) than boys (60%) raised the idea of rainforest as animal habitats

domi-Similarly, but at a lower level, more girls (13%) than boys (5%) said that rainforests provided human habitats These observations are generally consistent with our previ-ous studies of pupils’ views about the use and conservation of rainforests, in which girls were shown to be more sympathetic to animals and expressed views which seem

to place an intrinsic value on non-human animal life

The fourth question concerned the causes of the destruction of rainforests Perhaps encouragingly, more than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests, some personalising the responsibility by the use of terms such as ‘we are’ About 18% of the pupils referred specifically to logging activity.One misconception, expressed by some 10% of the pupils, was that acid rain is responsible for rainforest destruction; a similar proportion said that pollution is destroying rainforests Here, children are confusing rainforest destruction with damage to the forests of Western Europe by these factors While two fifths of the stu-dents provided the information that the rainforests provide oxygen, in some cases this response also embraced the misconception that rainforest destruction would reduce atmospheric oxygen, making the atmosphere incompatible with human life on Earth

In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive Only a few of the pupils (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue Some children expressed the idea that the conservation of rainforests is not important

The results of this study suggest that certain ideas predominate in the thinking of children about rainforests Pupils’ responses indicate some misconceptions in basic scientific knowledge of rainforests’ ecosystems such as their ideas about rainforests as habitats for animals, plants and humans and the relationship between climatic change and destruction of rainforests

Pupils did not volunteer ideas that suggested that they appreciated the complexity of causes of rainforest destruction In other words, they gave no indication of an appreci-ation of either the range of ways in which rainforests are important or the complex social, economic and political factors which drive the activities which are destroying the rainforests One encouragement is that the results of similar studies about other environmental issues suggest that older children seem to acquire the ability to appre-ciate, value and evaluate conflicting views Environmental education offers an arena in which these skills can be developed, which is essential for these children as future deci-sion-makers

Questions 1–8

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1–8 on your answer sheet write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1 The plight of the rainforests has largely been ignored by the media

2 Children only accept opinions on rainforests that they encounter in their classrooms

3 It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the ‘pure’ science thatthey study at school

4 The fact that children’s ideas about science form part of a larger framework of ideasmeans that it is easier to change them

5 The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as ‘Are there anyrainforests in Africa?’

6 Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about the rainforests’

destruction

7 The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at

children’s understanding of rainforests

8 A second study has been planned to investigate primary school children’s ideas aboutrainforests

Questions 9–13

The box below gives a list of responses A–P to the questionnaire discussed in Reading

Passage 1

Answer the following questions by choosing the correct responses A–P.

Write your answers in boxes 9–13 on your answer sheet.

9 What was the children’s most frequent response when asked where the rainforests were?

10 What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the

rainforests?

11 What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rainforests?

12 Why did most children think it important for the rainforests to be protected?

13 Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time

spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?

Reading

A There is a complicated combination of reasons for the loss of the

rainforests

B The rainforests are being destroyed by the same things that are

destroying the forests of Western Europe

C Rainforests are located near the Equator

D Brazil is home to the rainforests

E Without rainforests some animals would have nowhere to live

F Rainforests are important habitats for a lot of plants

G People are responsible for the loss of the rainforests

H The rainforests are a source of oxygen

I Rainforests are of consequence for a number of different reasons

J As the rainforests are destroyed, the world gets warmer

K Without rainforests there would not be enough oxygen in the air

L There are people for whom the rainforests are home

M Rainforests are found in Africa.

N Rainforests are not really important to human life

O The destruction of the rainforests is the direct result of logging

activity

P Humans depend on the rainforests for their continuing existence

Question 14

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, D or E.

Write your answer in box 14 on your answer sheet.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 1?

C The extent to which children have been misled by the media

concerning the rainforests

D How to collect, collate and describe the ideas of secondary school children

E The importance of the rainforests and the reasons for their

destruction

An examination of the functioning of the senses in cetaceans, the

group of mammals comprising whales, dolphins and porpoises

Some of the senses that we and other terrestrial mammals take for granted are either reduced or absent in cetaceans or fail to function well in water For example, it appears from their brain structure that toothed species are unable to smell Baleen species,

on the other hand, appear to have some related brain structures but it is not known whether these are functional It has been speculated that, as the blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the head, the neural pathways ser ving sense of smell may have been nearly all sacrificed Similarly, although at least some cetaceans have taste buds, the ner ves ser ving these have degenerated or are rudimentar y

The sense of touch has sometimes been described as weak too, but this view is ably mistaken Trainers of captive dolphins and small whales often remark on their animals’ responsiveness to being touched or rubbed, and both captive and free-ranging cetacean individuals of all species (par ticularly adults and calves, or members

prob-of the same subgroup) appear to make frequent contact This contact may help to maintain order within a group, and stroking or touching are par t of the cour tship ritual

in most species The area around the blowhole is also par ticularly sensitive and captive animals often object strongly to being touched there

The sense of vision is developed to different degrees in different species Baleen species studied at close quar ters under water – specifically a grey whale calf in cap-tivity for a year, and free-ranging right whales and humpback whales studied and filmed off Argentina and Hawaii – have obviously tracked objects with vision under water, and they can apparently see moderately well both in water and in air However, the posi-tion of the eyes so restricts the field of vision in baleen whales that they probably do not have stereoscopic vision.

On the other hand, the position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises suggests that they have stereoscopic vision for ward and downward Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding, suggests that what vision they have is stereoscopic for ward and upward By comparison, the bot-tlenose dolphin has extremely keen vision in water Judging from the way it watches and tracks airborne flying fish, it can apparently see fairly well through the air–water inter face as well And although preliminar y experimental evidence suggests that their in-air vision is poor, the accuracy with which dolphins leap high to take small fish out

of a trainer’s hand provides anecdotal evidence to the contrar y

Such variation can no doubt be explained with reference to the habitats in which vidual species have developed For example, vision is obviously more useful to species inhabiting clear open waters than to those living in turbid rivers and flooded plains The South American boutu and Chinese beiji, for instance, appear to have ver y limited vision, and the Indian susus are blind, their eyes reduced to slits that probably allow them to sense only the direction and intensity of light

indi-Although the senses of taste and smell appear to have deteriorated, and vision in water appears to be uncer tain, such weaknesses are more than compensated for by cetaceans’ well-developed acoustic sense Most species are highly vocal, although they var y in the range of sounds they produce, and many forage for food using echolo-cation1 Large baleen whales primarily use the lower frequencies and are often limited

in their reper toire Notable exceptions are the nearly song-like choruses of bowhead whales in summer and the complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales Toothed species in general employ more of the frequency spectrum, and produce a wider variety of sounds, than baleen species (though the sperm whale apparently pro-duces a monotonous series of high-energy clicks and little else) Some of the more complicated sounds are clearly communicative, although what role they may play in the social life and ‘culture’ of cetaceans has been more the subject of wild specula-tion than of solid science

1 echolocation: the perception of objects by means of sound wave echoes.

Questions 15–21

Complete the table below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 15–21 on your answer sheet.

Reading

Smell toothed no evidence from brain structure

baleen not certain related brain structures are present

Taste some types poor nerves linked to their 15………… are

yes probably have stereoscopic vision

18………… yes probably have stereoscopic vision

forward and upwardbottlenose

Hearing most large yes usually use 20…………;

wider repertoire

Questions 22–26

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for

each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 22–26 on your answer sheet.

22 Which of the senses is described here as being involved in mating?

23 Which species swims upside down while eating?

24 What can bottlenose dolphins follow from under the water?

25 Which type of habitat is related to good visual ability?

26 Which of the senses is best developed in cetaceans?

This fact was drawn to my attention dramatically when a blind

woman in one of my investigations decided on her own initiative to

draw a wheel as it was spinning To show this motion, she traced a

curve inside the circle (Fig 1) I was taken aback Lines of motion,

such as the one she used, are a very recent invention in the history

of illustration Indeed, as art scholar David Kunzle notes, Wilhelm

Busch, a trend-setting nineteenth-century cartoonist, used virtually

no motion lines in his popular figures until about 1877

When I asked several other blind study subjects to draw a spinning wheel, one ularly clever rendition appeared repeatedly: several subjects showed the wheel’s spokes as curved lines When asked about these curves, they all described them as metaphorical ways of suggesting motion Majority rule would argue that this device somehow indicated motion very well But was it a better indicator than, say, broken

partic-or wavy lines – partic-or any other kind of line, fpartic-or that matter? The answer was not clear So

I decided to test whether various lines of motion were apt ways of showing movement

or if they were merely idiosyncratic marks Moreover, I wanted to discover whether there were differences in how the blind and the sighted interpreted lines of motion

To search out these answers, I created raised-line drawings of five different wheels, depicting spokes with lines that curved, bent, waved, dashed and extended beyond the perimeter of the wheel I then asked eighteen blind volunteers to feel the wheels and assign one of the following motions to each wheel: wobbling, spinning fast, spin-ning steadily, jerking or braking My control group consisted of eighteen sighted undergraduates from the University of Toronto

All but one of the blind subjects assigned distinctive motions to each wheel Most guessed that the curved spokes indicated that the wheel was spinning steadily; the wavy spokes, they thought, suggested that the wheel was wobbling; and the bent spokes were taken as a sign that the wheel was jerking Subjects assumed that spokes extending beyond the wheel’s perimeter signified that the wheel had its brakes on and that dashed spokes indicated the wheel was spinning quickly

Fig 1

In addition, the favoured description for the sighted was the favoured description for the blind in every instance What is more, the consensus among the sighted was barely higher than that among the blind Because motion devices are unfamiliar to the blind, the task I gave them involved some problem solving Evidently, however, the blind not only figured out meanings for each line of motion, but as a group they generally came

up with the same meaning at least as frequently as did sighted subjects

We gave a list of twenty pairs of words to

sighted subjects and asked them to pick from

each pair the term that best related to a circle

and the term that best related to a square For

example, we asked: What goes with soft? A

circle or a square? Which shape goes with

hard?

All our subjects deemed the circle soft and the

square hard A full 94% ascribed happy to the

circle, instead of sad But other pairs revealed

less agreement: 79% matched fast to slow and

weak to strong, respectively And only 51%

linked deep to circle and shallow to square

(See Fig 2.) When we tested four totally blind

volunteers using the same list, we found that

their choices closely resembled those made by

the sighted subjects One man, who had been

blind since birth, scored extremely well He

made only one match differing from the

con-sensus, assigning ‘far’ to square and ‘near’ to

circle In fact, only a small majority of sighted

subjects – 53% – had paired far and near to the

opposite partners Thus, we concluded that the

blind interpret abstract shapes as sighted

Fig 2 Subjects were asked which word

in each pair fits best with a circle and which with a square These percentages show the level of consensus among

sighted subjects.

Questions 27–29

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 27–29 on your answer sheet.

27 In the first paragraph the writer makes the point that blind people

A may be interested in studying art

B can draw outlines of different objects and surfaces

C can recognise conventions such as perspective

D can draw accurately

28 The writer was surprised because the blind woman

A drew a circle on her own initiative

B did not understand what a wheel looked like

C included a symbol representing movement

D was the first person to use lines of motion

29 From the experiment described in Part 1, the writer found that the blind subjects

A had good understanding of symbols representing movement

B could control the movement of wheels very accurately

C worked together well as a group in solving problems

D got better results than the sighted undergraduates

Questions 30–32

Look at the following diagrams (Questions 30–32), and the list of types of movement below

Match each diagram to the type of movement A–E generally assigned to it in the experiment Choose the correct letter A–E and write them in boxes 30–32 on your answer sheet.

Questions 33–39

Complete the summary below using words from the box.

Write your answers in boxes 33–39 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any word more than once.

In the experiment described in Part 2, a set of word 33…… was used to investigate whether blind and sighted people perceived the symbolism in abstract 34…… in the same way

Subjects were asked which word fitted best with a circle and which with a square From the

35…… volunteers, everyone thought a circle fitted ‘soft’ while a square fitted ‘hard’

However, only 51% of the 36…… volunteers assigned a circle to 37…… When the test was later repeated with 38…… volunteers, it was found that they made 39…… choices.

Question 40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answer in box 40 on your answer sheet.

Which of the following statements best summarises the writer’s general conclusion?

A The blind represent some aspects of reality differently from sighted people

B The blind comprehend visual metaphors in similar ways to sighted people

C The blind may create unusual and effective symbols to represent reality

D The blind may be successful artists if given the right training

words

W R I T I N G TA S K 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task

The table below shows the proportion of different categories of families

living in poverty in Australia in 1999.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,

and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words

Writing

Family type Proportion of people from each

household type living in poverty

W R I T I N G TA S K 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task

Write about the following topic:

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of three of the following as

media for communicating information State which you consider to be the

INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING SYSTEM

General Training Reading

Additonal materials: IELTS Reading Answer Sheet

Time 1 hour

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

Read the instructions for each part of the test carefully

Answer all questions

Write your answers on the Reading Answer Sheet

You must complete the answer sheet within the time limit

Use a pencil

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

There are 40 questions on this question paper.

Each question carries one mark

General Training Module

You are advised to spend 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 First, read the text below and answer Questions 1-8.

YOUR MOULEX IRON

A Filling the reservoir

Your iron is designed to function using tap

water However, it will last longer if you use

distilled water

 Always unplug the iron before filling the

reservoir

 Always empty the reservoir after use

B Temperature and steam control

Your Moulex iron has two buttons which

control the intensity of heat produced by the

iron You can, therefore, adjust the

temperature of the iron and the amount of

steam being given off depending upon the

type of fabric being ironed

 Turn the steam control to the desired

intensity

 Turn the thermostat control to the desired

temperature

Important: If your iron produces droplets of

water instead of giving off steam, your

temperature control is set too low.

C Spray button

This button activates a jet of cold water which

allows you to iron out any unintentional

creases Press the button for one second

D Pressing button

This button activates a super shot of steam which momentarily gives you an additional 40g

of steam when needed

Important: Do not use this more than five

successive times.

E Suits etc.

It is possible to use this iron in a vertical position so that you can remove creases from clothes on coathangers or from curtains Turning the thermostat control and the steam button to maximum, hold the iron in a vertical position close to the fabric but without touching it Hold down the pressing button for

a maximum of one second The steam produced is not always visible but is still able

to remove creases

Important: Hold the iron at a sufficient

distance from silk and wool to avoid all risk of scorching Do not attempt to remove creases from an item of clothing that is being worn, always use a coathanger.

F Auto
clean

In order that your iron does not become furred

up, Moulex have integrated an autoclean system and we advise you to use it very regularly (12 times per month)

 Turn the steam control to the off position

 Fill the reservoir and turn the thermostat control to maximum

 As soon as the indicator light goes out, unplug the iron and, holding it over the sink, turn the steam control to autoclean Any calcium deposits will be washed out by the steam Continue the procedure until the reservoir is empty

Questions 1-4

Match the pictures below to the appropriate section in the instructions Write the correct letter

A-F in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

Questions 5-8

Answer the following questions on the Moulex iron using NO MORE THAN THREE

WORDS Write your answers in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.

5 What sort of water are you advised to use?

6 What factor makes you decide on the quantity of steam to use?

7 What should you do if your iron starts to drip water?

8 What could damage your iron if you do not clean it?

Now, read the information below and answer Questions 9-14.

General Training Module

Luggage

We ask you to keep luggage down to one medium
sized suitcase per person, but a small holdall can also be taken on board the coach.

Seat Allocation

Requests for particular seats can be made on most coach breaks when

booking, but since allocations are made on a first come first served basis, early booking is advisable When bookings are made with us you will be offered the best seats that are available on the coach at that time.

Travel Documents

When you have paid your deposit we will send to you all the necessary

documents and labels, so that you receive them in good time before the coach break departure date Certain documents, for example air or boat tickets, may have to be retained and your driver or courier will then issue them to you at the relevant point.

Special Diets

If you require a special diet you must inform us at the time of booking with a copy of the diet This will be notified to the hotel or hotels on your coach break, but on certain coach breaks the hotels used are tourist class and whilst offering value for money within the price range, they may not have the full facilities to cope with special diets Any extra costs incurred must be paid to the hotel by yourself before departure from the hotel.

Accommodation

Many of our coach breaks now include, within the price, accommodation with private facilities, and this will be indicated on the coach break page Other coach breaks have a limited number of rooms with private facilities which, subject to availability, can be reserved and guaranteed at the time of booking

the supplementary charge shown in the price panel will be added to your account.

On any coach break there are only a limited number of single rooms When a single room is available it may be subject to a supplementary charge and this will be shown on the brochure page.